Mary Raines

All summer me and Kasey have talked about letting the kids spend the night with other but we have both been busy and haven't really been able to plan anything. Well, last week Kasey needed me to watch Mary Raines for a few hours so we just decided to let her spend the night. We were all excited! When Tucker woke up the first thing he asked was when is Mary Raines coming over. I was super excited because I am so out-numbered in this house it would be nice to have another girl for the night. She is such a sweet little girl and we all had fun playing with her. She played really good with the boys and was very easy to take care of. She actually had me wrapped around her little finger and she knew it. If she asked for juice she got it. Chocolate milk for breakfast, absolutely. We had a great time and can't wait until she comes back for another sleep over.


She finally got her and made herself right at home. Sorry Kasey, the bow is already out!


She is showing Tucker how to draw.


Her and Jacob took turns riding the horse.


So, Tucker comes downstairs first and tells me they are playing in the snow. Mary Raines had found her favorite shoes. Tucker's snow boots. She always finds these and wears them when she comes over.


Mary Raines can you give Tucker a hug?


She didn't want me to push Tucker she wanted to do it.


This lasted about 2 seconds.

I know, they are going to hate me when they get older. This was probably the most interesting part of the evening. Tucker has never seen Mary Raines undressed so he had some very funny comments about her. Mary Raines has a little brother so she wasn't in as much shock as Tucker was. Good Times!

Demoliation Derby

Please, someone put me out of my misery!

Prince William County Fair

Guess what was across the street from the speedway? The good ole County Fair. So, guess what we did this past weekend? We took the boys to the Prince William County Fair. When I was a kid we didn't have the fair we had the carnival. I really loved going to the carnival and looked forward to it as a kid. I was really excited about going to the fair. I guess things are really better when you are younger. Once we got to the fair I just wasn't that into it. I tried to be a good sport but boy was it nasty. I think some of the same rides I rode as a kid in Winfield were at this fair. Does anybody remember the "Roundabout"? Um, yeah it was still running at this fair after all these years. The boys had a good time and Johnny thought it was the best thing besides Disney that we have ever done. Stay tuned, I am devoting another entry to the Demolition Derby that was part of the fair. Yuck!


We love petting zoo's!



Jacob loves tractors and was so excited about seeing all the different kinds.


This was Tucker's favorite.


Tucker is not afraid to try anything.


Is this really safe for a 3 year old????



The wiggleworm.


He loved this ride.


The Ferris wheel. He never got scared!


One of the only rides that Jacob would ride. Jacob and I just weren't really ready for the fair!



If a pony ride is available Tucker is all about it. This was fun since they let Johnny walk him around the fence.

Old Dominion Speedway

Here is how the conversation started: I got something fun for us to do tonight. OK, what? Well, you are going to think it's pretty redneck but just hear me out.

Johnny worked on Saturday and as he was leaving his customer's house the customer told him that they were about to head out to Manassas to go to the Old Dominion Speedway. Johnny was like what is that? His customer told him that it's a race track that races all kinds of cars and that kids get in free. I wasn't really into going but I knew the boys would like it and seeing that I am out-numbered here I said OK let's do it. Johnny was right, it was pretty red but the kids really enjoyed it and at least I got a funnel cake out of it.


Gentleman, Start your engines!


These are what they call "The Legend Cars"


Lovin the race!




This little guy liked running back and forth on the bleachers and eating funnel cake.


When we got in the car to leave Johnny asked Tucker if he had a good time. Tucker's response: I liked it, a little bit.


After the race was over they let the crowd come down into the pit. We got to look at all the cars and even sit in some of them.


Jacob got right in and started waving bye.




This was my favorite car and guess what a woman drove it. Wow, I could have a future at Old Dominion Speedway. Um, I think I will keep my day job.

Play Date

Last week I had a play date at my house with a few of the kids and moms from church. We had brunch then the kids played and the moms tried to talk. It was total chaos but I love it. We had a great day and the kids played really well together.


This is Lydia and Caleb. They were born just a few hours apart.


Tucker is being attacked by Ainsley and Susan. He doesn't seem to mind.


Mary Raines is helping herself to some fresh watermelon.

This little girl is always into something.

Taking a break to watch some TV.

We actually found this wagon in one of my neighbors trash. The boys have had a ball pulling each around. Well, Johnny and Beau actually got this out of one of our neighbors trash. Hard to imagine those two going thru a stranger's trash. They got a lot of good stuff. Beau scored a doll house for Mary Raines.

Coming in after a hard day's work.

Burke Lake Park

Last week we went to Burke Lake Park for a few hours. Johnny decided to go for a run around the lake while we rode the train and played on the play set. The trail around the lake is about 4 miles which is about what Johnny is use to running. Well, the trail got a little confusing and he got lost. He ended up having to go a strangers house to figure out where he was and how to get back to the park. He ended up running/walking over 7 miles. After all of the drama we had a picnic lunch and really enjoyed the day.


Ready to ride the train.


We had to wait on the train so the boys got restless and started playing on the tracks.



All Aboard!